Social Studies Key Goals Essay

Below is an essay on "Social Studies Key Goals" from Anti Essays, your source for research papers, essays, and term paper examples.

Identify the main key goals of teaching social studies and explain each. Choose any one and discuss how you would use it in teaching social studies to a grade level of your choice.

Social studies can be defined as the integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence. Within the primary school program, social studies provides coordinated, systematic study drawing upon such disciplines as anthropology, archaeology, economics, geography, history, law, philosophy, political science, psychology, religion, and sociology, as well as appropriate content from the humanities, mathematics, and natural sciences. The primary purpose of social studies is to help young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public as good citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world.
The key of goals of social studies plays an integral part in the teaching of the subject as they are necessary and important part of every child preparation for adult life. These goals are fostering attitudes and identifying values, developing skills, establishing knowledge and understanding and promoting social participation.
Firstly, the key goal fostering attitudes and identifying values is of great significance as values and attitudes are taught on a daily basis, children interact with others they absorb what they see and hear, thus they live it, as they believe that it is true. Social studies teach children how to respect and appreciate their culture, language and ethnic diversity and provide them with valuable life skills. Fostering attitudes and identifying values, this is the development of beliefs, values, attitudes and actions. Beliefs are a descriptive statement about one thing or a statement about a relationship between two things which a person holds to be true. Values are ends or ideals which are held by a person. They are the standards are codes which direct our actions. It is...